Milcham
by FrankieRaye
Summary: A short backstory peice to break in my new AoA roleplay character, Feng, who will grow up into quite a nice psychopath. Yes, all of my characters are psychopaths...
1. Life

      The small body of the eleven year old girl plummeted down the shaft, rather like Alice in the rabbit hole, her eyes taking the numerous oddities as she passed them. Discarded rubbish tangled in dead electrical cables. Broken furniture perched on the edges of side shafts. The refuse of an entire city eventually found its way here, to this shaft where - where what? It was oddly not her own fate that concerned the plummeting child at the moment, but this ambiguous fate of all that had come before. It had to go somewhere. Otherwise it would have to be a great pile by now. Unless someone came along and cleaned it out. But she'd never seen anyone hauling piles and piles of things out of the sewers. Only pieces at a time, other people's garbage being recycled to create homes and furnishings for the 'less fortunate'. Tomorrow, she'd ask Srahi. Only...

      Rays of amber light shone through the cracks in the rotting boards of the shack they called home. Voices, ones she didn't recognize, came from near the fire outside. The softer voice of her sister she heard, though she couldn't understand it because it was too low and quiet. It was just the tone, like music, drifting through everything else. Srahi. Her sister. The only mother she'd ever known. Srahi had been looking out for her as long as she could remember. Srahi had found her a doll yesterday. A birthday present. Srahi had always found something new to give her as a birthday present. She couldn't quite hear the words, but she didn't have to. Something in their tones. They wanted something. Something in Srahi's tone. Srahi wanted something too. They were arguing. Srahi never raised her voice when she argued. It was a rather clever way of getting what one wanted, she'd realized years ago, and tried to keep her own voice as soft as Srahi's. She'd be just like Srahi someday...

      The next thing she noticed was how much of a very long time falling seemed to take. Of course, she was a very small person, and everything here was large. She was rather used to everything being much larger than her, but this was bordering on the ridiculous. It was as if time itself had slowed, or her thoughts had sped up to move as fast as that thing Srahi had told her was a motorcycle. Srahi was smart, and clever. Srahi would no doubt be able to explain why falling took so long. She'd asked questions, many, many questions, always having been very afraid that she'd be too stupid to understand the world and how it worked. Stupid people didn't live very long. That was one of the first things she'd come to understand. The first thing she'd come to really understand had been death. One didn't go on living forever. Unlike how one seemed to go on falling forever...

      Srahi must have gotten what she'd wanted from the strange voices. Her tone perked up a little. And one of them, a large man, she guessed by the deep tones of his voice, laughed rather heartily. She didn't like his laugh. There was something frightening about it, despite its blatant attempt at sounding cheerful. Yes, that was it. The laugh was trying too hard to sound cheerful when it really wanted to be... sinister. Sinister. Dark. Wicked. She was rather proud of that word. That was a good word, she'd overheard Srahi say it a few days ago, and learned it. Srahi knew lots of large, pretty words. She was determined to learn them all. And be just like Srahi someday. ~Eyh, Bennie! Come out here!~ Srahi was calling for her. Bennu smiled, eagerly shoving aside the blanket she'd been under, and darting out of the shack to attend. It wasn't often that Srahi called for her this late in the night. Perhaps she was getting more grown up after all. Growing up. Just like Srahi...

      Falling. Perhaps she was falling through the center of the Earth into China. Srahi had made a joke once when she was very small and in her phase of digging deep holes in the muck and mud outside their shack that if one dug straight down, they'd end up in a place called China, where people walked upside down and spoke a funny language and drank nothing but tea. People who walked upside down, Bennu decided at that moment, must be mad. But here she was on her way to join them. She'd be having tea with the mad Chinese any minute now, once she fell out of the other side of the hole. What would it be like, with the whole world upside down. Would there be a sky? A sun? What if she just kept falling forever out the other end and down into the Chinese sky till she eventually collided with a Chinese star and... And Srahi would tell her she was being utterly ridiculous. Srahi, would be right. Bennu chuckled dryly to her doll, and kept falling...

      Stepping outside the hut, Bennu's dark eyes went wide with curiosity as they fell on the men Srahi had been talking with. The eagerness in her pace wore off a little. Somehow she just -knew- which man had laughed. He looked as sinister as he sounded. Her eyes trailed to Srahi. There was something in her face. She'd seen it there before sometimes, spying on her older sister. A kind of annoyed weariness. Tonight, that weariness seemed to have set itself in a new direction. "Srahi?" she asked softly, heading towards her sister. She found herself grabbed roughly by one of the men. Instinct - Srahi had said to always trust her instincts - Instinct sent that man flying over her small form, landing in the dirt a few paces away. Picking up her doll, Bennu backed back towards the shack, eyeing the men warily. They were laughing. All but the one she'd deemed as sinister. "Srahi... What's going on?" It was no more than a whisper. Srahi's face darkened. ~Don't be a nuisance. I'm done taking care of you, you worthless brat. You belong to them now...~

      It was actually quite possible to turn oneself over in mid air. Something else she'd learned from Srahi. How to fall gracefully, and fall how you wanted to fall. Srahi had taught her everything she knew about survival. How to throw someone bigger than her. The best places to hit someone. How to use certain weapons. How to get yourself out of a scrap. All the important things one had to learn, one could learn from Srahi... Somehow, though, Bennu found herself posessed by the odd feeling she was getting from not knowing exactly what she was slowly falling into. It was starting to get warm. It was pleasant. Winter had been cold, summer hadn't seemed much warmer. Falling into summer. That sounded like something Srahi would have said. Clutching the doll closer against her chest, Bennu smiled, pleased. She was indeed growing up very fast. Srahi would be proud...

      Them? Who were they? Whoever they were, they weren't going to be tossed with some leverage trick a second time. Before she could react, she'd been lifted off the ground. Kicking and biting did no good. As she was carried, her lips screamed Srahi's name, her eyes frantically seeking out her older sister. Srahi was walking away. The shock of abandonment silenced Bennu. The man who was carrying her stopped. The sinister man grabbed her chin roughly, boring into her eyes with his own, despite the lack of pupils in them. ~Scan her again...~ There was a humming and beeping, but Bennu found herself unable to take her eyes off his. This made the man smile. That smile sent a tremor of fear to her very core. ~Flatscan, sir...~ the voice was as timid as Bennu felt. She also felt the man's rage quite well through his hand on her chin. ~What?!?~ he hissed, shoving Bennu, and through her, the man holding her, back. The man fell. Bennu was too terrified to squirm out of his lax grasp and run away. The sinister man had taken the device, and had it pointed at her. The same sounds were heard again. The man hissed. ~The older girl. Find her. She's the one we want... Leave this one. She's useless.~ Roughly, the man under her shover her aside, pulling himself to his feet. And just like that, Bennu was alone...

      The comforting warmth was slowly getting uncomfortable. Just like summer on the worst days, the air thick and heavy and unbearably hot. Somewhere in the falling she'd closed her eyes.  Bennu opened one of those eyes now, finding that the shaft she'd been falling down had an orange flickering glow to it. She'd reached the core of the earth at last, it seemed. Srahi had told her once that the core of the earth was fire. So she had to fall through the core, then twice as long as she'd been falling to get to China... Ridiculous. She wasn't going to China. She was going to... Tucking her body, the force of the air turned her over. Below her was a great, amber light. A pool of radiance. A pool of fire. The fire consumed her. The smell of burning killed all other smells. The impact of her body against the floor of the incinerator shattered it. She felt her soul wrenching itself from its moorings, wanting to drift. Falling again? She was tired of falling. She wanted to stay there and be dead. Spectre-Bennu clung to her body. And in the next instant, she found herself drawn back inside. To discover her body was burning. But unlike it had been before that, it was a pleasant sensation. She felt more alive than she ever had. She felt like she could run for miles and not loose her breath. The feeling of her body as it pulled itself back together was less pleasant. But detatched as she was, it was interesting. And in her grasp... what was this? The doll. She could feel it against her chest. She wasn't alone...

      A jarring explosion in the incinerator had propelled her body to the surface in a torrent of flame. Smouldering she lay where she landed, the odd flames around her body gone, having seemingly extinguished themselves in the explosion in the shaft. The doll was still clutched against her chest. Melted slightly. Mangled more than it had been before, and charred looking. But still recognizeable as a doll. It started to rain. It rained for days. The wetness was a contrast to the fire. But the wetness worked to her advantage. She was quite alive when she should have been dead. Now she had to find out if Srahi was alive as well. Stealing clothes, and trying again to make the flames burn that she knew were inside her, Bennu crept through the places she knew Srahi went. Srahi hated rain. Srahi would be inside. A week later, Bennu found her. And spying on her sister through the cracks of a building brought all of Srahi's lessons to mind. The strong will survive. The smart will survive. She'd survived, she must be both. Never trust someone who betrays you even once. That was the thing that came most forcefully to mind. Srahi had betrayed her. There was only one thing to do to a traitor...

      "I am not worthless..." Bennu hissed lowly, staring at the dead body of her sister. Her sister, mangled, like the doll. Bennu clutched the doll against her chest one last time, then tossed it on top of the mangled heap that had raised her, and walked away, into the rainy night...


	2. Life and Death

Life and Death

Written with Elendil

The ash smudged around her eyes and cheeks served in the pale moonlight to make her face eerily beautiful, the ash blending with the shadows cast by her hair. She didn't think of it that way, however. In reality, she had little idea what she looked like. It had never seemed to matter, so she'd paid little attention to the few reflections of herself she'd gotten. Creeping along the edge of a rooftop, or what was left of one, she eyed the people in the streets below. A gang she'd been stalking for a few days. There was one among them that was reputed to be the most powerful man in the city. Bennu made a career stalking the strong. To prove she was stronger. She was well aware that somehow, around her, a war raged. Bennu was unconcerned with the survival of any cause, any race of beings, anything - other than herself.

This same gang also had apparently irked Apocalypse lately, as his prize Horseman had been sent after it. Death's presence, however, was never felt until a pair of the members froze, both in terms of movement, and in temperature. The men wore surprised looks on their faces, and panic burned in their eyes. Until they froze over with tears, that is. Death appeared from his concealment, releasing the two bodies to crumple to the ground, making unpleasant crunching noises as frozen body parts were mangled. The rest of the gang was stunned. Just the effect Death had been shooting for. 

Their leader seemed to realize what the Horseman was after, and barked, "Get him, idiots!" Death was no slouch in hand-to-hand combat, though, having been intensively trained as a ruthless killer ever since he'd been 8 years old. That left the leader himself. A Spike, no less, endowed with superhuman strength, and reflexes well above average. Beneath the grim visage of his skull-like helmet, Death couldn't help but grin, relishing the challenge this man presented.

Ben had been about to spring down from the rooftop to attack when something irregular in the movement of two men at the back of the group. They just stopped... Lowering her body, like a cat, she narrowed her eyes, not quite as surprised as the gang when the figure appeared. Also like a cat, she remained crouched there, watching this new mouse as it quickly dealt with the ones that had previously looked like worthy prey. This new mouse was certainly fascinating to her. Licking her lips, she watched, waiting to spring down on whichever happened to be the victor.

Death rarely ever spoke, and when he did, the sound was hardly warm and inviting. "Give it to me." His tone gave away nothing about what might be it, and made no compromising tone to suggest a deal was possible. He had offended the High Lord, and he was going to die. The gang leader seemed to consider doing so for a moment, wondering if a quick and painless death would be better than fighting Death. As always, the not so good angels won over. "You want the disk, Skullface? It's gonna cost you. Amnesty, a pass to Europe, and ten million in gold." Death didn't seem to keen on bargaining. "Give it to me, now."

The second ultimatum brought the leader charging. He was easily thrown across the ruined pavement. Grasping out with an arm, calling on his strength, the leader wrenched a manhole cover from the street, hurling it towards the Horseman. The disk froze in midair before it reached its target, suddenly reversing direction, striking the leader in the abdomen, knocking him back into the clutches of a rusting street light, now bent over from its original position. The light coiled around the leader's body, tightening painfully, cracking a few ribs. "Where is it?"

Eavesdropping as a child had taught her ears to become quite keen, and she listened to the conversation, more fascinated by the interaction than the actually meaning of what was being said. As, in the end, it didn't concern her. From the behavior of the gang leader, he was rather certain he was going to loose the fight. Which meant he would. Almost entranced, she watched the light twist around the gang leader's body like a snake. Probably crushing it. Ruthless, this new man was, whoever he was. Their fight would prove worthwhile. "Just tell him, you fool, so he can kill you and be done with it..." she whispered under her breath.

The gang leader brought his strength into play again, desperation fueling his power. He burst the metal bonds of the light, making a dive for the Horseman. If he could catch him in a bear hug, he could win. An invisible kinetic shockwave stopped him dead in his tracks. "Listen, I messed up, I'll give back the disk, and I'll turn myself in." His termination was almost palpable now. Death, however, was disgusted by his pleading. "You were strong, once. Die with that dignity. Don't grovel for your pathetic, weak life." It was Apocalypse's First Law. Apocalypse was one of the few true Darwinists to ever exist, and he'd been born long before Darwin. A sun yellow energy blade neatly speared the leader's head, killing him instantly. Dark Cloak crouched, searching the man's pockets. He'd stolen a disk with some valuable data. Death would need it and the location of his hideout to determine whether or not he'd made copies.

Her lips parted into a more entranced look as the gang leader was killed. The man's words had amused her greatly. He thought rather like she did. The was an almost lustful look in her eyes as she sprung from the rooftop, a ball of plasma searing through the air towards the ground a few feet behind him, as she herself descended several meters away. It hadn't been an attack, it had been a warning, and a non-verbal declaration of war. The entranced look was briefly visible on her face before the hair settled around it, shadowing it again, as she landed in a tense crouch, waiting for the man's retaliation, which she hoped would be swift.

Was this one of the gang leaders lackeys? It didn't matter much; she would die just like the rest. A gesture in her direction had electrical discharges sprouted from his fingers. Another Spike. Certainly more worthwhile than wasting his time on Flatscans. But this was mildly irritating, as he had a job to do, and some Johnny-come-lately was not helping things.

Her arms crossed over her face, shielding it from the discharges. She looked rather like she was cowering from the attack, in reality, her hidden lips were parted in a soft, blissful smile at the feeling of the energy coursing through her body, empowering her. She didn't hurl it back just yet, letting it linger in her system, amplifying itself for as long as she could stand to let it. The fact that she wasn't going to turn into a pile of ash would become apparent eventually. Ben suspected it would happen rather quickly. Even though it was to her disadvantage, she -hoped- it would happen quickly. She wanted him to be clever. She wanted him to be a challenge. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, the thought dawned that she wanted to know who he was. As one of them was going to die here, after all - she hoped. "I've forgotten my manners again. I am Feng. You are...?" The irony in her voice seemed to imply that the manners were something she lacked in the first place.

His name.... seemed to be unimportant at the moment, as he had resorted to physical attacks while she'd been masking her face. She could apparently absorb electricity, and possibly other forms of energy, so he'd have to resort of other means. More indirect means. Hand to hand might work, and if not, then other indirect means could be employed. He didn't waste his time talking. She was of no lasting concern.

She felt him move, without needing to see it. Fine. He wasn't going to answer. Meaning he'd likely dismissed her as unimportant. Bennu didn't handle dismissal well. She was going to get his name. She was going to beat it out of him. Since he was throwing himself at her anyway. She didn't move until he was nearly on her. She dove forward in a low spinning kick at the side of his knee, balanced with one hand on the ground, her other forearm prepared to make whatever parry or attack seemed to fit into the next moment. "I will know your name..." she growled darkly as she moved.

The street was his own defense. He used his magnetic powers to pull the rebar out of the roadbed to stop her counterattack. He pulled up the rest in order to make a crude cage. As for his name..... Only Lord Apocalypse might recall. He'd allowed no one else to know it. His name was unimportant. He was Death. He was Apocalypse's Chosen. His skill was his name. The terror he wrought, his legacy.

Finding herself caged only served to amuse her. It was there that she unleashed the energy that had been brewing in her system, in the form of becoming for a few brief seconds the core of an outwards explosion of white-hot plasma, melting its way through everything in proximity while at the same time serving to renew in part the energy she'd spent in the burst, and her body in general. He'd been close. That ought to have killed pretty much anyone. But the way he'd been slinging around energy fields, she suspected this was only the beginning, so her dark eyes were locked on where he ought to have been. Those dark eyes reflected her savage desire. To kill, or be killed. Neither would be a disappointment. The only disappointment would come if he tried to walk away.

All this was doing was serving as a distraction. Fun time was over. He was where he had been before her blast, albeit in smoldering clothing, his helmet bearing scoring. He casually regarded the ground where the gang leader's charred corpse lay, The disk he'd stolen was a mass of molten and unrecognizable plastic 'tar', of sorts. Satisfactory. His hideout could be traced relatively easily. Enough of this distraction. "Well done. Goodbye." He respected her ambition, and power, if nothing else. At that, his body flared with a brilliant, blinding light, and he was gone.

_Well done? Goodbye?_  That was... it? Alone on the ground, Bennu stared at where the man had just vanished. Numb. He was powerful. Someone that powerful wouldn't just... walk away? No, it was a ploy. He'd attack again. He just... would. The numbness wore off quickly when it was quite firmly proved that she was alone and going to remain so. The look in her eyes faded to a sort of crazed anger. Dismissed. Rejected. And worse. Patronized. His parting words had left a sting no other blow could have. Her eyes trailed to the dead gang leader's smoldering remains. She'd find the remnants of the gang. Find out who this man that had so harshly insulted her was. And then make him fight her. Clenching her fist, Feng stalked off into the night.


End file.
